Turning my XFire into a Racecar. I'm thinking that I will use bedliner for the interior.

My 2004 Chrysler Crossfire was a total loss as a result of a fire on Easter. Mechanically, the car is fine. The exterior was mostly untouched. The interior panels, carpet, and headliner were destroyed. Perfecr opportunity to (slowly) turn this car into something track worthy. Eventually, I intend to do a V8 swap. The two engines that I am considering are the 5.5L Mercedes-Benz E55, and a 5.7L Hemi V8. This is CAMM, so you all know which option I would prefer, without me having to actualky say, "Hemi." I have already torn a few hundred pounds of excess weight out of the car. There really isn't any insulation left, and the car is mostly bare bones inside. The seats, center console, carpet, headliner, done light, garage door opener, carpet, insulation, interior panels, et cetera have already been removed. Next, I need to remove the dash, as I plan to remove the climate control parts and both airbags. The steering wheel will be replaced with a smaller one, that will not have an airbag. I have yet to decide whether to go manual, or automatic with this project. I have a thing for Tremec transmissioms, and six speed manual may be the way to go, but we will see. I'd like to go WaveTrac with my rear end, and Kono with the suspension. Still debating how bare bones the dash will be; I'm either going to strip down and repaint the factory dash, or build something out of aluminum that will only hiuse the bare essentials.

sounds like a cool project. keep us posted.

with the E55 motor only used in one factory car (non bi-turbo) i would assume that engine isn't cheap to get. i personally would just go the cheaper route and do the 5.7L. it seems to be the popular swap with that car too.

Def a cool project.

Hope you post pics along the way.

Yeah, the Hemi is definitely the less expensive engine. Not sure if there is an adapter plate that would allow it to mesh my the transmission that is already in the car. Granted, I would really like to put a Tremec 6 speed manual in this car, but I would have to find a pedal box for the clutch, and I'm sure that the linkage woukd be less than fun to change out. All good things in time, though. What's the best way to post pictures in these threads?

find a online picture host and post the BB message board code link they give you in your post. i use www.tinypic.com

what kind of racing are you looking at doing with the car?

Pic Posting Info

I'm interested in autocross and road racing. I have a lot of friends who do quarter mile runs, but this car will never be a good car for the drag strip.

I apologize that the pictures are completely out of order. It turns out that they didn't upload to the image hosting site in the same order that I had them in my photo album on my computer, so when I copied the link, went to the next image on photobucket, and copied that link, the pictures ended up posting in a more or less random order.

Anyway, The trunk and gastank have been pained flat black, with Rustoleum Industrial Strength Enamel. The gastank cover has been painted, as well, but I have yet to re-install it, as the paint was still wet when these pictures were taken. There is still work to be done, removing climate control parts. I am not sure exactly what I'm going to do about the air conditioning condenser, as the pulley on it can't simply be deleted from the belt diagram, because of the position that it is in. Worst case scenario, I will have to rig up a way to add a pulley to that location, after removing the condenser. Anyway, I'm sorry that it has taken me song long to do this. I tried to upload the pictures to photobucket from my phone, and it was taking forever and a day, so I gave up.

I should point out that I have made no attempt to glamorize any of these pictures. The stains in some of the pictures are suit, which got wet, and soaked through the carpet, while I was dumping buckets of water into the trunk, while it was on fire. This has all been cleaned up, and everything is in the process of being repainted. I think that I will probably cut pieces of aluminum diamond plate, to cover the holes where the rear speakers were mounted. It should be easy enough to mount them, using the existing thread rods that are welded into the car. I still need to pick up a pair of Koni struts for my rear suspension, as well as a new set of rear tires, a steering wheel, and a race seat. I will post more pictures and updates along the way. Please, by all means, feel free to ask questions, provide input, and give any suggestions and recommendations that any of you see fit; this is the first car that I have ever done anything quite like this to.